The Case for Cooper

“It’s a privilege to give to Cooper. For all that it did for me and for countless others throughout its history, I consider it a responsibility to help Cooper deliver the best education to students who will make the most of it.”

These words, spoken by a young alumnus, offer compelling testimony about why supporting Cooper Union is so important. We remain committed to sustaining Peter Cooper’s vision and his profound reliance on education to improve society. Unleashing the imagination, creativity, and inventiveness of the human mind were fundamental to achieving a better world, and inevitably, Cooper established a school that embodied his view. While Cooper remains a private institution, its mission for over 150 years has been the public good.

Laudable goals do not, however, ensure their bearing fruit. The Cooper Union cannot rely alone on the bequest from its founder. It is up to the generations that succeed Peter Cooper to keep his light shining.

Relying as Cooper does on the generosity of its alumni, parents, and friends to maintain the excellent education it offers to emerging artists, architects, and engineers, we enlist your partnership in the renewal of Peter Cooper’s promise.

Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.